RUSSIA has bombarded Syria’s Idlib province with more than 100 air attacks in just a few hours after one of its fighter jets was shot down by rebels on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitor of Syria's civil war, said at least 68 attacks hit Idlib province on Sunday morning, in addition to the 35 attacks carried out on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the area to avoid being caught up in the attacks but the White Helmets, an opposition rescue group, claim at least 21 civilians have been killed.

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Putin has launched more than 100 attacks after Syria rebels shot down a Russian jet on Saturday

A video, which has not been independently verified, circulating on social media of a dead man with a bloodied face as bearded gunmen stand around him, one of them shouts: “He is Russian.”

Tharir al-Sham, a jihadist group spearheaded by the former Syrian branch of al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane, saying one of its fighters had scored a direct hit with a shoulder launched anti-aircraft missile.

Senior commander Mahmoud Turkomani said in a statement released by the group: "This work is the least we can do to revenge our people.